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Staying on Top When Your World's Upside Down

Turn off the tragi-tainment

“For the reporter, the natural bias for bad news is compounded by the difficulty of relating good news in the form of personal stories… ‘Postal Worker Satisfied with Life’ isn’t much of a headline – unlike ‘Postal Worker Kills Eight,’ which is bound for the front page.”Daniel Gardner: The Science of Fear:

Over time, the choices you make with regard to allocating your attention profoundly influence the kind of person you become. As Ralph Waldo Emerson famously put it, “A man becomes what he thinks about all day long.”

Pay too much attention to the news (which I call the tragi-tainment media, because their business is turning tragedy into entertainment) and you’ll become a more frightened and anxious person.

Pay too much attention to television sitcoms and you will ineluctably become more cynical and sarcastic. Pay attention to educational and inspirational books and tapes, though, and you’ll become a more positive, self-empowered, and motivated individual.